BISM7209 Assignment 1
Asset safeguarding and control system essay
Page 1 of 11
Due dates
Item Date and Time Due Format
• Milestone 1: Friday 24th of March 2023 at 13:00 Outline using Excel Template provided
Submission method: via the Blackboard assignment submission tools
• Final Submission: Thursday 6th of April 2023 at 13:00 4 page maximum PDF
Submission method: via the Blackboard assignment submission tools
Aim and Background
Aims
This assessment is designed to achieve three aims. The first aim is to help develop your
understanding of control systems. The second aim is to further your understanding and
appreciation of the importance of controls to achieving the organisational goal of asset
safeguarding. The third aim is to help develop your writing skills by producing a concise,
straightforward, and brief essay.
BISM7209 Assignment 1
Asset safeguarding and control system essay
Page 2 of 11
Background
£1.9 million fraudster named as
Julie McBrien
04 November, 2021 01:00
Almost six years after a woman was first arrested for defrauding her employers out of £1.9
million, her identity can be revealed as Julie McBrien, also known as Hogg.
She appeared for sentencing in the dock of Dungannon Crown Court, dressed in black and
weeping.
McBrien (47), of Screeby Road, Fivemiletown, committed 26 counts of fraud and money
laundering over an eight-year period.
It was established she significantly breached the trust of her employers, Cookstown-based
Northern Mouldings Limited, which is owned by Heron Brothers.
She was in charge of finances but despite enjoying a good salary, filtered cash from the
company, bringing it to the verge of collapse.
The fraud sustained a luxury lifestyle for McBrien in her lavish mansion set in its own
grounds.
A forensic examination discovered lifestyle spending of £141,000; general expenditure of
£360,000; property development of £356,000; interior design of £311,000; fashion and
beauty spending of £231,000 and £145,000 on jewellery.
McBrien made up false bank statements and forged the signature of a former employee
after failing to remove his name from the bank mandate*. She then forged a bank mandate
BISM7209 Assignment 1
Asset safeguarding and control system essay
Page 3 of 11

making her solely in charge of finances, countersigning cheques to herself and creating
false invoices.
She also confided in a company director and lied that she had a rare form of cancer. This
was exactly the same condition a close relative of the director had endured and he went
out of his way to provide support for McBrien as his employee.
On arrest, she admitted the offences, initially claiming money was spent “just on holidays.
There’s nothing to show for it.”
She blamed the company accountants for “not doing their job properly. If they had, I
wouldn’t be here.”
Judge Brian Sherrard QC noted that the company placed total trust in her which had been
significantly abused.
“While dedicated colleagues faced huge financial impact while you enjoyed your luxury
lifestyle. You were given preferential treatment by a director after claiming to have cancer.
You were the author of that lie and benefited from it …
"You had no consideration for anyone affected by you. This money was simply dissipated
by you and there was no argument for need. Your offending was borne out of avarice."
He also noted all psychiatric treatment was sought privately and not through her GP. While
diagnosed as having a severe depressive episode, McBrien declined intervention.
A report obtained by the prosecution found she "has the ability to manipulate for her own
ends and all assessments are based on her own assertions.”
BISM7209 Assignment 1
Asset safeguarding and control system essay
Page 4 of 11
Judge Sherrard dismissed the suggestion of imposing a hospital order, noting McBrien had
not received treatment and none of the assessing experts took action to compel her to be
detained for treatment.
He imposed a prison sentence of five-and-a-half years.
A spokesperson for Northern Mouldings Ltd said: “We believe today’s punishment befits
her crimes and we hope it will act as a lesson to her and to any others who may in the
future try to abuse and exploit the most basic of human traits – trust.
“(She) was involved in a major sophisticated and sustained fraud against the company
over an eight-year period. We are led to believe that this was one of the most
sophisticated fraud cases ever witnessed by the police and Public Prosecution service.
“Her actions and the subsequent long running legal process has been exceptionally
difficult for the business, the shareholders, our loyal staff and all their families. Her efforts
to delay the legal process and the attainment of reporting restrictions which has kept her
name from the public domain until this point only served to exacerbate the distress caused
to all her victims.
“Separately we will continue to pursue legal actions against Julie (Hogg) McBrien to
retrieve the funds the company was defrauded, and we are confident we will be successful
in that regard.”
Following sentencing, Detective Constable McKee from the Police Service of Northern
Ireland’s Economic Crime Unit said: “This was a serious crime in which Julie McBrien
defrauded her employer out of approximately £1.8 million for her own personal gain. She
was given a position of trust and in return she chose to abuse that trust.
BISM7209 Assignment 1
Asset safeguarding and control system essay
Page 5 of 11
“Her actions have had far reaching consequences for her employers who worked tirelessly
to establish their company and who, in spite of their immense financial loss, continue to
contribute to the economy by employing people from the local community.
“I hope this sentencing sends out a clear message to anyone who thinks they can get
away with this type of crime. We will work tirelessly to bring offenders before the courts so
that that victims receive the justice they deserve.
“I would ask anyone who believes they are a victim of fraud to contact police on the non-
emergency number 101.”
*see this Barclays Bank page which explains what a bank mandate is:
https://www.barclays.co.uk/business-banking/manage/business-mandate-change/
How might the bank mandate align with standing data?
Potential information sources:
https://www.barclays.co.uk/business-banking/manage/business-mandate-change/
https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-northern-ireland-59150064
https://www.irishcentral.com/news/julie-mcbrien-tyrone-fraudster-loses-prison-appeal
https://www.facebook.com/watch/?v=255411189884454
BISM7209 Assignment 1
Asset safeguarding and control system essay
Page 6 of 11
Preliminary information: Having recently graduated from University, you have started in
your first graduate position – deputy financial controller at Express Hydraulics in Brisbane.
Express Hydraulics engages in supply and installation of new hydraulic systems, repair of
hydraulic systems and components, and design of hydraulic systems. Express Hydraulics
operates in the agricultural, road transport, and heavy earthmoving sectors. Express
Hydraulics has a fleet of eight field service vans allowing its technicians to work at
customers’ sites, as well as having premises at Salisbury where it undertakes design work,
repair, and testing of hydraulic components, and building of new hydraulic systems to
customer specifications.
Express Hydraulics was started in 1997 by Kate Menadue and has grown since then to
currently be one of Brisbane’s largest independent hydraulics suppliers. More recently,
Kate has pulled back from her daily involvement in Express Hydraulics, preferring to
devote more time to her educational and philanthropic interests. To allow her time to
pursue those interests, over the past four or so years she has appointed a management
team to Express Hydraulics of which you are the latest hire.
BISM7209 Assignment 1
Asset safeguarding and control system essay
Page 7 of 11
As deputy financial controller part of your role is to mitigate risks for all aspects of Express
Hydraulics’ financials. This ranges from making sure jobs are promptly and correctly billed
to customers through to ensuring the technicians are correctly paid for their hours worked
on jobs. Having completed a course in Accounting Information and Software Applications
you are aware of the importance of, and are familiar with, preventative, detective, and
corrective controls. While in Ireland in 2021, you recall reading an article that appeared on
Belfast Live’s website involving a significant fraud conducted over some eight years by an
employee. While Express Hydraulics’ systems and controls outwardly appear to be sound,
you see parallels between Express Hydraulics and Northern Mouldings, the company you
recall suffering the fraud.
Recognising the potential for fraud you approach Express Hydraulics’ Financial Controller
raising your concerns. You recount the Northern Mouldings fraud story and while Express
Hydraulics is a privately owned business, the Financial Controller immediately
understands the potential for fraudulent activity to occur and wants to make sure Kate the
owner is aware of the potential for such frauds.
BISM7209 Assignment 1
Asset safeguarding and control system essay
Page 8 of 11
You tell the Financial Controller that you will develop a briefing for the owner summarising
how the fraud that took place at Northern Mouldings worked. In addition, your report will
summarise the fraud’s tangible and intangible costs to Northern Mouldings, Northern
Mouldings’ control problems, the type of controls Express Hydraulics should implement,
and whether the controls you suggest are preventative, detective, or corrective.
While Express Hydraulics’ owner has successfully managed and grown her business, she
has no background in Accounting Information Systems. In fact, Kate was formerly an
experienced CAD professional who, some 25 years ago, sought to improve the design of
hydraulic installations by using CAD software. While very business savvy, she has limited
understanding of controls.
As a result, your briefing must be well researched, concisely and clearly written, accurately
referenced, and, very importantly, use non-technical terms. Your briefing should highlight
the similarities between Northern Mouldings and Express Hydraulics, providing brief
examples of the fraud to ensure the owner understands the nature of the fraud. Further,
the higher the quality of your presentation, the more likely Express Hydraulics owner will
view you as an excellent candidate for the Financial Controller position (the current FC has
indicated her intention to retire at the end of the financial year). In short, the spelling,
grammar, and writing in the briefing must be to the highest standard.
BISM7209 Assignment 1
Asset safeguarding and control system essay
Page 9 of 11
Deliverables
Milestone 1
Complete the outline in four steps. First, fill in the Generic Outline. Second, choose the
maximum section length in pages for just the sections. Third, briefly in dot point format
provide your specific points. Fourth and last, auto-evaluate yourself for the outline. Does
it cover all the aspects requested.
Example:
2 1
3
4
BISM7209 Assignment 1
Asset safeguarding and control system essay
Page 10 of 11
Final Submission

Expected length: This essay should not exceed four pages, including references,
double-spaced 12-point Arial font. Referencing style should be APA or Harvard and
should remain consistent throughout your essay.
Value: This assessment represents 20% of your grade for BISM7209
Format of Essay:
Using similar headings, i.e., How the fraud worked, The fundamental control
problems, Suggested controls that could help avoid this type of fraud, and
Suggested control type, you should set out your essay in this order.
How the fraud worked: In this section, you should provide a brief summary of how the
fraud worked at Northern Mouldings. You should also provide an overview of who engaged
in the fraud, e.g., the fraudster(s) and any associates. (1/2-page max).
The fundamental control problems: This section elaborates on Northern Mouldings’
fundament control problems. You should state what the problems were and the levels at
which the control weaknesses occurred (e.g., transaction, operational, management,
strategic). In general, summarise who had exploited those weaknesses, and how they had
exploited the weaknesses. You should also summarise what the motivations and benefits
were to the fraudster(s) as well as summarising the tangible and intangible costs to
Northern Mouldings to ensure Express Hydraulics owner (and managers) understand the
extent of the costs of such fraud!
(2 pages max).
BISM7209 Assignment 1
Asset safeguarding and control system essay
Page 11 of 11
Explain briefly controls that you would suggest that could have helped avoid
this type of fraud: Having summarised how the fraud worked and what the control
problems were at Northern Mouldings, you should draw the two together and recommend
at least two (2) controls that focus on reducing the likelihood of such fraud occurring at
Express Hydraulics. As always, you should explain how the controls would help avoid a
similar fraud happening at Express Hydraulics and explain how those controls would work.
(1 page max).
For each suggested control, explain whether it is preventive, detective, and/or
corrective in nature: In this section, you should explain whether the controls you suggest
to Express Hydraulics are preventative, detective, and/or corrective. Remember, the owner
is not an expert so your explanation will have to be non-technical
(1/2-page max).